Search - Young Frankenstein [Special Edition] on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG Content Advisory: Questionable for Children, Adult Humor Movie Release: 1974 DVD Release: 11/03/1998 Format: DVD - Black and White,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, French, Spanish Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 46 mins Studio: 20th Century Fox Members Wishing: 26 Genres: Comedy, Parody/Spoof, Horror Comedy See Also: Young Frankenstein, Young Frankenstein [Decades Collection], Young Frankenstein [Blu-ray]

Lending his burlesque touch to 1970s genre revision, Mel Brooks followed his hit "western" Blazing Saddles with this parody of 1930s Universal horror movies. Determined to live down his family's reputation, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (co-screenwriter Gene Wilder) insists on pronouncing his name "Fronckensteen" and denies interest in replicating his grandfather's experiments. But when he is lured by Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman) to discover the tantalizingly titled journal "How I Did It" in his grandfather's castle, he cannot resist. With the help of voluptuous Inga (Teri Garr), wall-eyed assistant Igor (Marty Feldman), and a purloined brain, Frankenstein creates his monster (Peter Boyle). Igor, however, stole the wrong brain, and the monster tears off into the countryside, encountering a little girl and a blind hermit (Gene Hackman). Frankenstein finds the monster and trains him to do a little "Puttin' On the Ritz" soft-shoe, but the monster escapes again, this time seducing Frankenstein's uptight fiancée Elizabeth (Madeline Kahn) with his, ahem, sweet mystery. His love life and experiment in shambles, Frankenstein finally finds a way to create the being he had planned. Shooting in gleaming black-and-white, with sets and props from the 1930s and appropriate fright music by John Morris, Brooks' cheeky attitude towards the Hollywood past attracted a large audience, turning it into one of the most popular 1974 releases after (what else?) Blazing Saddles. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Gene Wilder - Dr. Frederick Frankenstein
Peter Boyle - Monster
Marty Feldman - Igor
Teri Garr - Inga
Madeline Kahn - Elizabeth
Cloris Leachman - Frau Bluecher

Shot in black-and-white to recreate the feel of a classic horror film, Young Frankenstein's cinematography is beautifully restored on DVD with only minor defects in the print throughout. The audio is only in mono, but in this case it does an adequate job in further establishing the feel of the Universal monster movies. The full-length screen-specific audio commentary by Mel Brooks listed on the package is hard to find, absent from the "Special Features" menu and hidden inside the "Languages" menu. Brooks' commentary is energetic but not as humorous as one would expect, focused instead on his fond recollections of his collaborators. The 36-minute documentary is well produced and features an in-depth look at the production, from Gene Wilder's original pre-Brooks script to the film's completion. The deleted scenes seem to have been cut for time reasons and most are humorous additions to the film, while the outtakes are hilarious. An assortment of promotional material is also included, from several trailers to an odd collection of Mexican interviews conducted on the set. With enough humor and interest to warrant repeat viewing of the film and supplements, =Young Frankenstein is one of the most successful Mel Brooks DVD releases. ~ Oliver Thornton, All Movie Guide